Yankees beat Rays as Ben Rice hits two home runs, drives in five

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Ben Rice hit two home runs and drove in five runs as the Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 12-4, on Thursday to salvage a split of the four-game series between the American League's top two teams.

Rice went 7-for-16 with four homers and nine RBIs in the series for the Yankees, who remained four games behind the Rays, five in the loss column. If the Rays had won, they would have taken a six-game lead, seven in the loss column, and clinched the season series, which would have given them a tiebreaker. That, in effect, would have given them an eight-game lead in the loss column.

The Yankees — who had five straight hits in a six-run third inning — won for only the third time in 14 games and the fifth time in 19 games. In the previous four games, they struck out 56 times and walked three times. They had struck out 65 times in the last five games. On Thursday, they struck out seven times and drew four walks to go with 14 hits.

The Yankees entered the game having scored 49 runs (2.7 per game) in their last 18 games. They went 12-for-102 with runners in scoring position (.118 batting average) in that span.

All-Star Drew Rasmussen entered the game having allowed only five earned runs in 50 2/3 innings against the Yankees (0.89 ERA) — the lowest for a pitcher against any opponent in MLB history since earned runs became an official stat in 1913 — but they knocked him out in the third.

After Max Schuemann and Ryan McMahon (12-pitch at-bat) doubled to tie the score, Trent Grisham’s RBI single gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead and Rice followed with a two-run drive that just cleared the rightfield wall. Rasmussen then gave up consecutive infield singles by Jasson Dominguez and Cody Bellinger and left after Jose Caballero’s RBI single. Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s sacrifice fly made it 6-1.

Rasmussen allowed six runs and seven hits in 2 1/3 innings, and his ERA rose from 2.73 to 3.26. 

Reliever Paul Blackburn started for the Yankees, who used seven pitchers in a bullpen game. 

Rice hit his 28th homer, a towering three-run shot to right-center,  in the sixth to extend the Yankees' lead to 10-3. He's second in the AL behind Houston's Yordan Alvarez, who has 29. Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber led the majors with 32 going into Thursday night's game at Cincinnati.

The Rays' Junior Caminero hit his 27th homer 438 feet the opposite way to right-center in the first.

The Yankees' Austin Wells ended a 23-game homerless streak with his first since May 22, also against the Rays. He also drew a walk after entering the game without one in 48 plate appearances in 18 games. He had last walked on May 31.